Malaria in infants below six months of age: retrospective surveillance of hospital admission records in Blantyre, Malawi - Download this document for free, or read online. Document in PDF available to download.

Malaria Journal

, 8:310

First Online: 29 December 2009Received: 04 August 2009Accepted: 29 December 2009

Abstract

BackgroundInformation on the burden of malaria in early infancy is scarce. Young infants are relatively protected against clinical malaria during the first six months of life due to the presence of maternal antibodies and foetal haemoglobin, and have received relatively little attention with respect to research and treatment guidelines. The World Health Organization provides treatment guidelines for children from six months onwards, without specific treatment guidelines for the younger infants. A number of recent reports however suggest that the burden in this young age group may be underestimated.

MethodsA retrospective review of paediatric hospital records at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre from 1998 to 2008 from three data sources was carried out. The number of admitted infants <6 months and ≤ 15 years was obtained from the registry books of the Paediatric-Nursery-Department and the Malaria Research Laboratory. For the period 2001 - 2004, more detailed malaria related admission information was available as part of an ongoing study on severe malaria, allowing a calculation of the proportion of infants < 6 months of age among admissions in children < 5 years.

ResultsRetrospective analysis of hospital records showed that over the course of these years, the average annual proportion of paediatric admissions in children ≤ 15 years with confirmed malaria aged <6 months was 4.8% and ranged between 2.8%-6.7%. This proportion was stable throughout the seasons. Between 2001-2004, 9.9% of admissions with confirmed malaria in children <5 years occurred in infants <6 months, with numbers increasing steadily during the first six months of life.

ConclusionsThese findings are consistent with recent reports suggesting that the burden of malaria during the six first months of life may be substantial, and highlight that more research is needed on dose-optimization, safety and efficacy of anti-malarials that are currently used off-label in this vulnerable patient group.

Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article doi:10.1186-1475-2875-8-310 contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

* Images in this website could be protected under copyright laws. They are picked automatically from bing.Please use the contact form to claim a copyright infriction and the item will be removed immediatelly.